Thursday, July 29, 2010
MSI 890FXA-GD70 AMD 890FX Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
"Overall I am thoroughly impressed with the MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard. Why you may ask. It does exactly what it is supposed to do with out complaining. Sure the performance was slightly behind that of the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula, but it isn't the kind of performance difference you will notice on a day to day basis. What you may notice on a day to day basis, is the price difference. At the time of this writing the MSI 890FXA-GD70 is $179.99 after rebate. That puts the MSI 890FXA-GD70 thirty bucks below the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula. That's an extra thirty bucks you can invest into a better graphics card or processor..."
More information can be found
here.
Intel Core i5-655K Processor BX80616I5655K @ Benchmark Reviews
"Many years ago, overclocking was not limited by Intel/AMD like nowadays. As it is usual, when they see they can make extra money from the
consumers by limiting their features to those who pay more, they don't hesitate to take advantage of that. In the last years, the Intel made it a
little bit "impossible" for those who want to buy a CPU with unlocked multiplier. Intel was limiting that feature to the Extreme Edition CPUs. AMD
took this as an opportunity to approach consumers with a feature their competition wouldn't give and so the AMD Black Edition CPUs appeared. AMD has
been kindly enough to offer Black Edition products for each segment in the market, and that means you can find a BE (Black Edition) CPU for less than
$100. Intel is striking back with a pair of new processors which feature an unlocked multiplier without the $999 tag. Today, Benchmark Reviews will
analyze the Intel Core i5 655K Unlocked CPU which basically is a Clarkdale based 2-cores/4-threads processor with Intel HD graphics and specially
aimed at overclockers. Is the unlocked multiplier good enough to pay that little extra or isn't it worth it? Is it better to overclock with multiplier
or should I to raise the BCLK? Those answers and more will be covered as Benchmark Reviews tests the Intel Core i5-655K Clarksdale processor, model
BX80616I5655K."
More information can be found
here.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Patriot Inferno 100 GB SSD @ techPowerUp
"Patriot's 100 GB Inferno SSD drive uses the Sandforce SF-1222 controller which is the company's latest and has found its way into many SSDs from major manufacturers on the market. Patriot is offering a unique five year warranty with their drive that uses a massive 28 GB overprovisioning to keep performance high at all times."
More information can be found
here.
OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-Express SSD Review @ Legit Reviews
"OCZ has been on the cutting edge of SSDs since they hit the consumer market and are on the pioneer trail once again with their most affordable PCI-Express based SSD yet - the RevoDrive. As implied, this isn't their first PCI-E drive but it is the first that carries a price tag that rivals that of the more traditional SATA port based SSDs. At an MSRP of $349 for the 120GB version (part number OCZSSDPX-1RVD0120), they aren't what you would consider inexpensive for storage devices in general, but considering the performance, hardware onboard and pricing of similar capacity SSDs, the price point is rather impressive. The RevoDrive features a pair of Sandforce SF-1200 controllers in a RAID 0 configuration - all on one card. Think of it like the NVIDIA SLI and ATI Crossfire cards with dual GPU's on one card. You get all the benefits of a traditional RAID 0 configuration without the hassle and expense of multiple drives and add-in RAID controller cards. We've seen the performance of just one Sandforce based drive begin to hit the SATA II bandwidth ceiling, and moving to a higher bandwidth interface will really allow the RevoDrive to stretch its legs..."
More information can be found
here.
AMD Ups The Workstation Ante With A New FirePro Driver
"Whether you are an owner of an ATI FirePro V3800 that retails
for just over $100 USD, the proud owner of an ATI FirePro V8800 that
goes for over $1,300 USD, or any of the FirePro products in-between, you
will want to update your graphics driver when AMD puts out their next
stable software update. Back in March AMD put out an amazing FirePro
Linux driver that increased the performance of their workstation
graphics cards already on the market (and the other Evergreen-based
workstation cards that entered the market soon after) by an astonishing
amount. Our independent tests of this proprietary Linux driver update
found that the performance in some workstation applications had
increased by up to 59% by simply installing this updated driver while
other OpenGL tests had just improved rather modestly with 20%+ gains.
AMD though is preparing to release another driver update for Microsoft
Windows and Linux that ups their workstation graphics performance even
more! We have run some tests of this new beta driver against their older
driver with both their low-end and ultra-high-end FirePro products and
have found the improvements again to be astonishing."
More information can be found
here.
IDAPT I3 Universal Desktop Charger Review @ ThinkComputers.org
"“If you are anything like me you have quite a few gadgets lying around, most with their own chargers. This means you have a bunch of different cords to plug in, which takes up most of your power strip and just makes a mess of wires and connectors. While there is nothing we can do about all of the chargers that come with these devices there is something you can do about the mess. This is where the IDAPT I3 Universal Desktop charger comes in. It is a simple device that has 1 power connection and allows you to charge up to 3 devices at the same time! Let’s take a look…"
More information can be found
here.
PC Power & Cooling 950 Mk II Power Supply @ Bjorn3D
"When we think of power supplies for our computers there are still quite a few people out there that think that a PSU is just something that powers our computers. They also still feel that any ole’ PSU will work on our computers. This is not the case A PSU is the most vital component of our computers. The PSU in my opinion is just as important as our CPUs, our video cards, motherboards, memory, HDDs/SSDs and sound cards. You are only as fast as your slowest component, if your PSU cannot properly supply your computer with enough power; then your entire computer is the slowest component."
More information can be found
here.
Samsung UN55C6500 55 Inch LED TV Review @ Tweaknews
"With this being the second LED TV I have tested from Samsung, nothing much has changed with regards to pros and cons of thin panel LED technology. The picture quality and colors are second to none and the 1.1inch overall thickness is nothing less than astonishing."
More information can be found
here.
Best CPU Cooler Performance Q2-2010 @ Benchmark Reviews
"Why do we overclock? It's really a very simple question, but one that has found new meaning over the years. It used to be that computer
hardware enthusiasts had very few options when it came to choosing a processor, and building your own custom system was simply not possible. This was
back in the day when computers featured a 'Turbo' button, overclocking from 33 to 66MHz was a click away. Back then, overclocking the CPU could push
clock speeds past any production level. Today the market is different, and overclocking the processor could result in very little additional
performance. With so many dual-, quad-, and hexa-core processors now sold on the open market, overclocking has transformed itself from a tool to help
people work faster, into a hobby for enthusiasts. Enthusiast overclockers demand only the best performance from their computer hardware, which is why
the aftermarket heatsink industry is thriving with fierce competition. Benchmark Reviews tests the latest Intel LGA1366 heatsinks in this Best CPU
Cooler Performance Q2-2010 article."
More information can be found
here.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Benchmarking ZFS On FreeBSD vs. EXT4 & Btrfs On Linux
"ZFS is often looked upon as an advanced, superior file-system
and one of the strong points of the Solaris/OpenSolaris platform while
most feel that only recently has Linux been able to catch-up on the
file-system front with EXT4 and the still-experimental Btrfs. ZFS is
copy-on-write, self-healing with 256-bit checksums, supports
compression, online pool growth, scales much better than the UFS
file-system commonly used on BSD operating systems, supports snapshots,
supports deduplication, and the list goes on for the features of this
file-system developed by Sun Microsystems. In this article we are seeing
how well the performance of the ZFS file-system under PC-BSD/FreeBSD 8.1
stacks up to UFS (including UFS+J and UFS+S) and on the Linux side with
EXT4 and Btrfs."
More information can be found
here.
Rosewill Super Slim 2.4GHz Wireless Touchpad Keyboard Review @ Legit Reviews
"It seems like everyone is adding a HTPC to their media center. When you have a PC in your living room, you need a way to control it from your couch. Rosewill has released the RK-V1TP Super Slim Wireless-Touchpad Keyboard to address just this niche for only $59.99 plus shipping. The keyboard uses a 2.4-GHz wireless dongle that plugs into your USB port to provide a range of"
More information can be found
here.
AMD 890GX - Gigabyte vs. ASRock review in Metku.net
"Two motherboards with AMD's 890GX chipset goes head to head to see which one takes the top spot."
More information can be found
here.
SilenX Extreme Efflizio Silent CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews
"Silenx, apropos of their name, has produced a very quiet cooler (silent at lower fan speeds) that has pretty good cooling performance. Unfortunately, when they targeted gamers and overclockers for their marketing niche, the Effizio just can't quite carry the load."
More information can be found
here.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Antec DF-30 Dark Fleet Computer Case @ Benchmark Reviews
"Antec has been around for a long time. Chances are, if you enjoy building your own computers or even tinkering with them, you have heard
of Antec. They make a myriad of components and accessories for a wide range of computer users. One of the areas in which Antec has always had a strong
presence is computer cases. Many of their enclosures have received very high marks from all across the industry, earning them a lot of recognition in
the computer world. In the summer of 2010, Antec released a new line of computer cases known as the Dark Fleet. In this article, Benchmark Reviews is
taking an in-depth look at the Antec DF-30 Mid-Tower Computer Case. At right around $100, the DF-30 represents the most inexpensive case so far in the
Dark Fleet line. We will be exploring the DF-30 Mid-Tower Case to see if it stands up to the name Antec has worked so hard to earn."
More information can be found
here.
Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 4GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers.org
"“We have seen so many different Speeds of DDR3 ram on the market, ranging anywhere from 1066 Mhz to 2400 Mhz. The mid range ram used by most people is the DDR3 1600 Mhz. Crucial graced us with their new and upcoming ram and having seen the speeds of the ram we previously tested, we were eager to see what we could achieve. This new 4GB DDR3 kit features Crucial’s new Ballisitx heatspreaders and onboard temperature sensors and monitoring software, let’s take a look…"
More information can be found
here.
GPU Air Cooler Royale @ Bjorn3D
"You go out and purchase a 200+ on a CPU and immediately you purchase a 60+ on a heatsink that will ensure your CPU does not get hot. Well you should also consider the video card to be fitted with a aftermarket heatsink as well. Today we at Bjorn3d.com going to be looking at three different types of GPU heatsinks. One of these heatsinks is a stock aftermarket cooler, the Vapor X from Sapphire. We are also going to be looking at a new heatsink contender in the market of heatsinks, that company is GELID. Too finally going to look at another heatsink from a manufacturer that is well renowned as being one of the best, Zalman."
More information can be found
here.
Thermaltake Frio @ techPowerUp
"Its been over a year since Thermaltake came out with their last CPU cooler offering. The Frio is their first dual fan cooler targeted at cooling high performance multi-core processors with high heat output. The Frio incorporates some very promising new features, will they offer any significant benefit?"
More information can be found
here.
Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Full Tower PC Case Review @ Legit Reviews
"Antec has been making cases for well over 20 years for all levels of users. Today we are looking at the newest line from Antec called Dark Fleet. The Dark Fleet line was designed with gamers and power users in mind. The new Dark Fleet series are completely new builds and has 3 cases in the lineup, the DF-30 and DF-35 mid towers, and the case we are looking at today the DF-85 full tower. With the Dark Fleet Antec brings some new features to the table that are improvements over previous cases they have made. The newest features are Fleet-Swap and Fleet-Release. Fleet Swap is drive bay SATA hot swap system that can be relocated anywhere in the drive bay. Fleet Release is the new front drive bay access door system that not only holds an LED fan with independent variable speed control knob, but an improved tool-free removable fan filter..."
More information can be found
here.
Running ZFS With CAM-based ATA On FreeBSD 8.1
"As was mentioned in last Friday's article, Which Is Faster:
Debian Linux or FreeBSD, tests of FreeBSD atop the ZFS file-system
(rather than UFS2+S) are currently underway and those results are
expected to be published in full later this week as the ZFS disk
performance is compared directly to UFS2+S, UFS2+J, and also Ubuntu
Linux with the EXT4 and Btrfs file-systems. Today though we have a few
ZFS performance numbers to share as we look at the performance of the
new CAM-ATA sub-system on FreeBSD."
More information can be found
here.
Prolimatech Armageddon CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews
"Prolimatech has a worthy product in their Armageddon CPU cooler, offering the PC enthusiast community top-notch performance in a well-engineered product with excellent fit and finish."
More information can be found
here.